It has been a busy start to the year at R2 Factory, with the launch of our first research publication, called Network Thinking, which examines the effects of the pandemic and other systemic shocks of the last three years on major industrial firms. We’re extremely grateful to everyone who participated in the interviews, roundtables, the survey and the launch events – we learned a huge amount from their combined expertise and the feedback has been fantastic. You can catch the webinar on demand here and download the free report here.
Latest news
AI has spent more time in the news in the last month than in the previous year, mostly thanks to OpenAI’s ChatGPT - it turns out generative AI also generates column inches. One woman whose name we should all know is the CTO Mira Murati, see her interview this week in TIME.
...Although it looks like the dark horse to watch all along has been Anthropic, whose founders separated from OpenAI over differences in direction when Microsoft took a major stake in 2021. Anthropic has been quietly nurturing its own hefty investment from Google, which has stressed the need for 'rigorous testing' of its new chatbot Bard this week.
CTOs and CIOs are increasingly dependent on AI and ML to understand the complexity within their supply chains, a new study has found, and 85% of business leaders suspect the answers to their supply chain challenges can be found in the “dark data” their business collects but doesn’t analyse.
In culture, Spain’s National Library last week announced that researchers using AI had been able to identify the author of a previously anonymous play as the work of prolific 17th century dramatist and priest Lope de Vega. The project called Etso digitally transcribed 1,300 plays and used NLP to compare the works with other previously digitised works.
R² Factory community events
In addition to our usual networking events, over the next few months, we’ll be digging into a topic that came up frequently in our last research: dark data. With virtual briefings, roundtables and other activities, we’ll be talking to a lot of CDOs, CTOs and CIOs in major global corporates about the value hidden in their darkest data.
Third Thursday // 16 February 18:00 GMT
For AI Unlocked readers based in/near London, come along to our next informal networking drinks at our London home on Portland Place.
Webinar: Dark Data // Tuesday 21 March 16:00 GMT // 11:00 EST
Join our next webinar to hear from our Chief Executive, Caroline Gorski, and guest speakers to discuss the scale of the dark data challenge faced by large industrial businesses.
Roundtable: Dark Data // Wednesday 1 March // 18:00 GMT
Exclusive dinner hosted at Portland Place in London. Only a few spots remaining.
If you would like to join our dark data research working group, please do let Stephen Reinhardt know.
Policy digest
Rishi Sunak creates a new department for digital
This week saw a surprise UK government reshuffle, creating four new departments, including one for Digital, Innovation, Science and Technology. Read our blog on what this means for AI policy - including possible delays to the AI Whitepaper from the Office for AI.
Home Office looking into biometric AI policy
Also in the UK, the Home Office has created an AI Policy and Data Ethics team to enable the department to employ powerful data-driven technologies to maintain public trust and avoid unintentional harm.
European negotiations on the AI Act enters the endgame
On 1 February, lead negotiators in the European Parliament discussed the latest compromise amendments to the AI Act. Given the tight time frame, negotiations are likely to intensify in the coming weeks, with the next political meeting on 15 February.
Biden's State of the Union goes hard on Big Tech
While President Biden's annual address to the nation focused on the benefits of the trillion-dollar infrastructure bill, climate investment and other key achievements of his first two years in office, he urged Congress to work towards stricter privacy protections online, especially for children, as well as strengthening U.S. antitrust enforcement with regard to major technology firms (incidentally, the first mention of the word “antitrust” in a State of the Union speech since 1979).
If you have any questions or would like to discuss your business challenges and goals, request a call back from our representatives and we will get back to you.
